Piersanti Mattarella: a photo exhibition recalls the man of institutions, his human and family dimension

The photographic exhibition is called 'Il sogno spezzato - L'orizzonte politico e familiare di Piersanti Mattarella' (The broken dream - Piersanti Mattarella's political and family horizon), dedicated to the President of the Region of Sicily, who was barbarously murdered on 6 January 1980, under the eyes of his wife Irma, daughter Maria and mother-in-law Franca. Two hundred photos, both public and private, for mostly unpublished, portraying Piersanti Mattarella, brother of the Head of State Sergio Mattarella, to celebrate the 90th birthday of the politician with 'papers in order'. The photo exhibition will be inaugurated on Tuesday 15 April at 5pm, at Villa Zito, but will open to the public on 16 April. The exhibition opens just days after the breakthrough in the investigation into the murder of Piersanti Mattarella. The Palermo Public Prosecutor's Office has entered two people in the register of suspects indicated as assassins of the Christian Democrat politician killed beneath his home.

Curated by the Fondazione Sicilia, with the general coordination of Sergio Intorre and Elvira Terranova and the collaboration of Bernardo Mattarella, it also includes texts and videos edited by Giovanni Grasso, Piersanti Mattarella's biographer. The photographs on display have been selected from the family albums and retrace Piersanti Mattarella's education, his entry into politics, his brilliant political career and his rise to the top of the regional government. They also tell the story of his human and family dimension, through the images that portray him with his father, mother, siblings, wife, children and friends, who have been close to him throughout his career, contributing to outlining a full portrait.

On display also personal objects, kept by Piersanti Mattarella's widow, Irma Chiazzese. An exhibition from which emerges the figure of a man of institutions, interpreter of Aldo Moro's political thought, animated by the Christian faith, bearer of lofty civil and political ideals, and, at the same time, that of a devoted son who in turn becomes a loving husband and father, surrounded by a warmth of affection of which he is the centre and main actor. A series of images portray him alongside Aldo Moro, Pertini, Pope Pius XII and Pope John XXIII. Photos that intertwine with those of family moments lived with serenity, temporary departures from the harshness of public life.